Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)

By Ronda Ruderman, AFA ASAP Event Review Committee Member (pre-merger Alaska)

ASAP – What is it?

ASAP is a voluntary safety self-reporting program for individual employees. The goal of the Flight Attendant ASAP is to identify specific safety-related problems, which may lead to accidents and injuries, and then try to correct those problems.

Please use our ASAP to report safety concerns or problems that you see. By writing up safety hazards you encounter when dealing with, for instance, trash stowage, use of ovens, emergency equipment, or safety-related incidents, ASAP will focus attention on these problems, and provide a means to resolve the issues before they might result in injury to you or a flying partner.

What do I Report?

Report any safety concern. Safety concerns may involve a CFR and/or a Company Safety Policy, and may include possible non-compliance with a CFR or Company Safety Policy.  

Do I Report something I did, or what I saw someone else do?

ASAP is intended for F/As to self-report what they have done or seen or experienced.  That is why each member of a crew is encouraged to submit their own ASAP report, so each F/A can describe their own experience.

ASAP Reporting is voluntary (in contrast to the Incident report, which is mandatory for those events listed on it).  All F/As benefit from safety improvements developed through ASAP. Individual FAs may benefit from the “learning experience” of their event.

If you submit a report, please let your fellow crew members know.  It is really helpful to the investigation of the event if all F/As on the crew submit their own report, even if they think they had nothing to do with the event.

Will the ASAP Report stay in my file?  What about Discipline?

For the individual F/A whose report is accepted into ASAP, for any event that involves an apparent non-compliance with a CFR, that F/A will have immunity, or protection, from a finding of violation by the FAA.  Also, no punitive action (discipline) against the F/A may be taken by Alaska Airlines based on good-faith reporting of a safety of flight event.  These protections apply to all F/As, including F/As on probation.

ASAP is not a tool for Company discipline.  Since the program started there has been no discipline to any F/A as a result of an ASAP report.

Your report does not go in your Company personnel file.  Once your report is closed there is no record of it, except in the monthly bulletin (which has no names). Inflight management have no knowledge of the names of the F/As who submit ASAP reports.

Documents

Updated December 2017

• Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Memorandum of Understanding
• ASAP Additional Provisions Letter of Agreement (pmAS)
• ASAP Additional Provisions Letter of Agreement (pmVX)

Links

• FAA Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Website